Black August

After watching Black August, I felt like I'd sat through one of the key speeches by the late, great Martin Luther King. This is a very angry film, mostly raging against outrages committed on blacks by corrupt whites in power at a time when racial segregation and profiling was still commonplace... the 60's and 70's. But unlike the noted pacifist Mr King, the central character here George Lester believes the only solution is through force.

A member of the notorious Black Panthers, he is stuck behind bars on trumped up charges... but still manages to correspond with his armed gang, even encouraging his younger brother to participate in their violence. He is also a very eloquent scribe, and wants a lot of material he's written to be published to help spread the word of 'the cause'. To this end, he enlists the help of a slightly nerdish white book publisher, and the two regularly meet at visiting time exchanging stories. But certain people, i.e every law official in the USA, doesn't want his scrawlings to hit the market... afraid that it may implicate any number of them...

And it's no surprise, as virtually every Caucasian police officer here is depicted as either being a heartless racist, or a brainless redneck. This being entirely financed for an ethnic minority audience, I guess a little imbalance was going to creep in, but this feels slightly too artificial in construction. Still, at least it guarantees we cheer for all the right people... and the tale is an engrossing one, 'based on real events' apparently. In addition, it was funny seeing all the fashions of the era on display, from oversized Afros to giant Elton John-esque specs.

So yea, I'm not really one for protesting in such a large scale way... mainly because I think it hardly ever does any good. But this was an enjoyable experience for the most part, even if 'certain facts have been changed to suit the injured party's agenda'... 6/10

in point form; if you are interested in liberal politics than this is a must see movie that i only wish would have had a bit bigger budget. but the historical facts and message are there and well done.Gary Dourdan as the revolutionary figure , and Darren Bridgett as the non-involved observant do a great job to express and give real thoughts to the feature's well defined objective: that of class seen throw socialist( NOT communist) perspective.

if you are familiar with the real facts then this will touch you in a sense or another. there are a bit too many "slow" parts but in-between there are quiet a few witty dialogs as well. it only gets 6 stars from me because, as i said, probably due to low budget, the production is not well done, and i would consider this more as a sort of documentary based on biographies.

being Caucasian myself i feel the need to add that this is something that concerns all American classes regardless of color since it has many realistic application. this is very revolutionary, yet overall not violent, and a must see if you like American recent history as well.

This is a must see for everyone, for whites to see the pain and desperation that racism caused, and African Americans to commiserate with the injustice the previous generation endured. Educational and well made. It doesn't matter that it was a low budget film; one hardly notices it. The pain and emotions come through well to the viewer. Without seeing films like this, it is difficult to appreciate the suffocating sense of desperation that comes from a biased court system, penalizing the color of your skin. Nothing beats reading "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" to experience the exquisite pain and suffering millions went through. Incidentally the film Malcolm X was an utter, utter disaster in this respect. Spike Lee turned it into a run of a mill Hollywood entertainment film and nothing comes across of the intense injustice and desperation that lead men to risk their lives in an open struggle, which makes this film all the more successful: low budget thus lower pressure to make a profit rather than get the message through.